Olympians lose to Falcons

Here come the Olympians

The Adamson Falcons stamped their might over the STI College Olympians as the San Marcelino squad won over the Taguig based Olympians 85-66. As if one UAAP team was not enough, the former NAASCU Champions challenged the up and coming Falcons in preparation for their coming UAAP Season which will open this weekend on July 11 while the Olympian's season starts on July 18, 2009.

Martin Antonio establishes his presence inside

The first four minutes of the game saw the Olympians surprise the Falcons as the Olympians full court press made the Adamson cagers turn the ball over which the Olympians converted into points. STI led Adamson 14-4 in that opening salvo which prompted Coach Leo Austria to call a ceasefire. The result was an 11-0 blast that gave the Falcons the upperhand 15-14.

Mark Orias challenges the Falcon's defense

Coach Vic Ycasiano was somewhat experimenting with his wards as he shuffled his players endlessly and was trying to see what combinations would click and who would step up. This time around it was little used forward Jong Cariño's turn to be scoring leader as he sank three of his four triples in the first half to keep the Olympians within striking distance of the Adamson Falcons who have since recovered from the opening minutes and have stabilized their offense and defense. Ably supporting his scoring was Mark Orias who was once on the second team of the Falcons. His lane incursions and drives to the hoop helped stem the tide for the Olympians.

Norman Ihalas scores with this lay up

The other guards, Macky Macabasco, Norman Ihalas, Jen Ryes and Marine Marata took turns to pressure the Adamson guards but their efforts were thwarted this time as the Falcons found ways to attack the STI full court press and scored on fastbreaks. Coach Vic eventually abandoned the press and settled for a zone defense. The old reliables for the Falcons led the way as forwards Jan Colina, Alex Nuyles and Allan Santos scored heavily while center Mike Galinato was also a headache. SPeedy Guards Lester Alavarez and Jerick Cañada made a good account of themselves in manning the back court. To my surprise, one of their rookies, Eric Camson has found his way to the Adamson line up. Camson played briefly for the Olympians in the summer of 2007 as a young 16 year old recruit from Batangas. He eventually got homesick, went back and found his way to San Marcellino. He is a great addition to this team.

Macky Macabasco goes up against Lester Alvarez

The Olympians lost by a mile, but the only bright spot was the heads up play of the new guys who we believe will eventually blossom come the second round of the NAASCU. The nice plays of Jerald Bautista and Cedric Ablaza are what we hope will be the future of STI basketball. Sadly, there were four Olympians who did not suit up since some had the flu and small injuries. Hopefully their condition will improve in the next week in time for the opening of the NAASCU.